


Fever Dream

by aurelie_saintjuste



Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: Cross-Posted on Tumblr, F/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-17
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-06-02 17:34:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6575884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurelie_saintjuste/pseuds/aurelie_saintjuste
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peggy Carter does not go to the hospital for the flu.  Howard gives Sousa a motivational speech.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fever Dream

It came on quite suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere.  At first, she attributed the deep ache in her joints to the more physical part of a mission a few nights ago, where she’d had to get a little tough with a suspect in an alley. She’d earned a few bruises and scrapes, but this was a different kind of pain - she felt weak, as if her knees might give out if she stood to walk across the room.

It wasn’t until the words on the dossier in front of her began to blur and she couldn’t decide whether she was freezing cold or burning hot (or a strange combination of both at once) did Peggy Carter start to become concerned.  

Her fingers curled around the telephone.  Peggy closed her eyes to try to right the world that seemed to be spinning around her.

“Mr. Jarvis,”  she said in a voice just above a whisper, “I’m sorry to trouble you, but I was wondering if perhaps you might be able to pick me up at the office?  I’m afraid I’m not well.” 

-

Ana met them at the door.  If Peggy were feeling more herself, she’d admire how well-prepared and synchronized she and Jarvis were in all things - not the least of which was in caring for a sick patient.  

“Probably just a cold,” Ana said with a reassuring smile as she helped Peggy up the flight of stairs to her bedroom,  “Between working in an office full of people and your penchant for saving the world, I cannot say I’m surprised.” 

She helped Peggy out of her work clothes and into a pair of pajamas.  As she turned down the bedspread and gestured for her friend to lay down, Ana pressed the back of her hand against Peggy’s forehead. 

“Peggy - you’re burning,” Ana said, with a note of surprise that wasn’t lost on the sick SSR Agent. 

“But I’m freezing,” she lamented weakly.

“I’ll be back with some ice,”  Ana promised, and disappeared downstairs to brief Mr. Jarvis on the situation.

-

  The ice didn’t help.

Ana and Jarvis took turns checking in on Peggy as the afternoon sunshine faded into dusk.  For someone who knew Peggy as well as Jarvis did, it was disconcerting to him to see her look so frail.

Around six, Jarvis brought a cup of tea and a small bowl of soup upstairs, should she be awake and hungry for dinner.  He frowned as he noticed her shivering in her sleep, despite the extra blankets Ana had left for her on her bed.  More alarming was the fact that he could notice the beads of sweat forming just at her hairline.

He knew her aversion to hospitals and doctors.  Peggy hated a fuss, especially when it came to her personal matters or wellbeing.  But he was beginning to wonder if he and Ana were as prepared to take care of her as well as a doctor might.

His mind was made up a few hours later, when upon checking in on her, he noticed her breathing becoming labored, her face pained in what he was sure was a restless sleep.

Jarvis would make his apologies later, but Peggy was going to a hospital.

-  

“Chief Sousa, my apologies to trouble you so late, but I thought that considering your,” Jarvis paused.  It hardly seemed the time to mince words about their relationship, “ _proximity_  to Miss Carter, that you should be advised that we will be bringing her to the hospital this evening.”

Daniel sat up in bed.  Any time his phone rang this late into the evening it was never good news.

 At least he was consistent. 

He didn’t hesitate. 

“I’ll meet you there.” 

Jarvis reminded himself to tell Peggy, once she was back to being herself, of course, how concerned Sousa sounded over the phone.

-  

Jarvis hated the hospital.  Upon settling into a very familiar seat in the waiting room, all he could think about was the night that Peggy sat with him, held his hand, and waited with him for news of Ana’s status.

Ana hated the hospital, too.  For a woman who loved and appreciated the beauty in literally everything, she struggled with the concept that while people healed here - indeed, had she not? - people also died here.  She sat quietly next to her husband, her fingers laced with his as they waited for news on Peggy’s condition.

Sousa leaned back in his seat, his arms crossed tightly over his chest, crutch propped up beside him.  His dislike of the hospital was mixed with a healthy dose of admiration and gratitude for the work that the doctors and nurses tirelessly provided every day.  He was living proof of their dedication.

There they sat, wordlessly, waiting for news that the doctors had managed to bring Peggy’s fever down.

The tense quiet was interrupted by the arrival of a man who insisted on wearing his sunglasses in the middle of the night.

“Jarvis, what one earth is this note, really?  ‘Hospital. Will return soon.’ It’s rude, you know, for a man to come home to his mansion to find himself completely deserted when he’s got good news about Stark Pictures’ next leading lady.  Who, for the record, may be in the guest house when we get back.”  

Howard Stark paused, pushing his sunglasses to perch on top of his head,  his eyes darting from Jarvis to Ana to Sousa.  He expected to see Peggy.

 “Where’s Peg?”

“The subject of the note, I’m afraid,”  Jarvis said flatly, “And my apologies, sir, for my inconsideration.”  

“Bleeding out?  She pick a fight with a mob boss again?”

“The flu, it would appear,”  Ana corrected.

“Peggy Carter does not go to a hospital for  _the flu_.”

“Under the circumstances, sir, we thought it best for Miss Carter to seek some professional medical assistance.” 

“Well let’s go see her.” 

“No one’s allowed in yet.”  Sousa said in a tone more harsh than he meant, his jaw set in a way that betrayed his cool demeanor for that of a stressed boyfriend.

“Oh, please, that’s never  _actually_  the case. C’mon, Sousa.  I’ll show you how it’s done.”

-  

Apparently it was done with a wad of cash, in an unidentified amount. Stark would probably later call it a charitable donation to the hospital, but Sousa had to admire his dedication to Peggy.  

… And at the very least, he was grateful to Howard for helping him to get into her room to see her.

Daniel Sousa took an indescribable amount of joy in having seen Peggy in many states - made up for work, hair curled and pinned to perfection, makeup applied carefully and methodically, and always well dressed.  He’d seen her more casually, on Saturday afternoons out for lunch, still careful about her appearance, but more relaxed.  On a handful of evenings in their newly developing relationship, he’d had the exquisite honor of seeing her in a lot less, her styled hair falling down her naked shoulders, makeup removed from her face.

This was not how he wanted to see Peggy.  Dressed in a hospital gown, covered in sheets and pale, the sweat from her face and neck causing her flat hair to stick to her.  Her lips were chapped and he could tell she was still having difficulty maintaining the natural cadence of her breathing.  

Sousa smoothed some of the hair from her forehead.  Howard settled into a chair in the corner of the room.   
  
“Pull up a chair, Chief.  We could be here awhile.” 

 -

_Peggy had never wanted to punch someone in their perfect face as much as she did Steve Rogers.  He had one job - one job! - to radio for their rendezvous.  To get out from behind enemy lines safely.  To return safely to her._

_And here she sat outside a tent, positive that the pending conversation with Chester Phillips would not end in her favor._

_Her emotion had nothing to do with what she was positive would be a discharge from the military.  Where was Steve?_

_She heard cheers.  Just a few at first, but it wasn’t long before the cheers turned into a roar.  Peggy looked over her shoulder._

_She might have her opportunity to punch Steve Rogers just yet._

_Leading what had to be three hundred?  - Could it have been four hundred? - Allied men, each looking worse for the wear, was Captain Steve Rogers.  Captain America.  Peggy felt her jaw drop.  She straightened her posture and took long strides over towards him, her emotions landing somewhere between furious and elated._

_Before she could say anything, he held up a destroyed radio._

_Peggy set her jaw.  She looked past Steve, where medics were already hurrying to asses which injured men needed assistance first. Her eyes locked on a man with dark eyes, dark hair, walking fine on his own, pushing other men towards the assistance of the medics, but looking like he himself needed every ration in the camp and about two weeks of sleep._

_SOUSA was stitched on his uniform._

“Steve,” she murmured, feebly pressing the back of her hand to her forehead. 

Sousa jumped at the sound of her voice.  “Peg?”

Howard stirred from his sleep in the chair in the corner.  

“Steve saved them.” she said to no one, her voice still small, her eyes still closed.

Daniel went quiet, a mixture of confusion, relief, and was it just a little bit of hurt that Howard recognized, flashing across Chief Sousa’s eyes?

Wordlessly, Daniel pressed the back of his hand against her forehead.  Her fever had broken. 

“Austria,”  Howard said solemnly, in a single-word explanation of a story that Sousa was already familiar with.

“I may have heard something about it,” was all he said with a little shrug. Daniel sank back down into his chair while Peggy slept.  He hated that he felt a pang of jealousy over what should have been a moment of relief.  Peggy was awake - or at the very least, well on her way to being awake.  That was what was most important. 

Howard put a hand on Daniel’s shoulder.  “She thinks the world of you, Sousa.”  

“I know,”  he said.  The feeling of camaraderie with Howard Stark were waters Daniel was still learning to navigate.  “I’m not mad,” he admitted.

“You shouldn’t be.  Peggy isn’t frivolous.  No matter what happens, no matter where she goes or who she ends up with, Steve will always be a part of her past.  She’ll carry him forever.  But Peg’s ambitious enough, realistic enough, smart enough and dedicated to you enough that he won’t be a part of her future.  We all loved Steve, Sousa,”  Howard said quietly, “He was a hell of a friend, one of the bravest people you’d ever know - he charmed everyone he met, even before Rebirth.  But if it’s any consolation, I know she feels the same way about you.” 

Daniel watched Peggy closely.  He’d experienced a lot of things in his life, but getting a motivational speech from millionaire Howard Stark in Peggy’s hospital room - and somehow feeling better because of it - was not something he’d ever imagined for himself. 

Then again, Peggy Carter wasn’t ever something he’d imagined for himself. 

“Thanks, Stark.”  Daniel said sincerely. 

“Having said that, don’t mess this up, Sousa.  She may have been the only girl who ever turned me down, but I’d do anything for her,”  Howard said with a smile.  

Daniel rolled his eyes. “Got it.” 

“I know.”  Howard said lightly, leaning back in his chair.  “Now, wake her up, I want to go home.”

“I’ll wait for her to do that on her own, I think,”  Sousa said, raising an eyebrow.  “I’ll stay - I wouldn’t want to keep you from your guest.” 

“Sousa, it’s six in the morning, if she’s still there, I’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“Go home, Howard.”  Peggy groaned, her eyes still closed.

“Ah, Peg, you look  _terrible_!”  Howard said gleefully, standing up and crossing the room to her bedside.   

Sousa shot him a pained look.  

 “I’ll try to remember next time I have the flu to at least put on some lipstick,”  Peggy said weakly, but with a small smile.  Her eyes opened for the first time since arriving to the hospital.  “Go. And for heaven’s sake, if Mr. Jarvis and Ana are still here, please take them home with you - I feel awful.” 

“You  _look_  awf-“

“Stark.” 

“Got it.  Going.  See you at home.”  Howard waved, and slipped out of the room.

“Hello Daniel,”  Peggy turned her attention to Sousa, who, she estimated, looked only a little better than she felt.  Staying up all night in a hospital room brought out dark circles under his eyes.  His hair wasn’t as neat as usual and he was in need of a shave. 

“Glad you’re awake,”  he said, in what he was sure was the grossest understatement of his life. 

“Thank you, me too.  Though I’ll confess I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck.”   

“Strong words from a woman who mere weeks ago was skewered by rebar.”   

Peggy grimaced.  He took her hand and kissed it gently. 

“Guess I won’t be at work tomorrow,” she looked out the window, where the sun was already rising in the sky, “Today.” she corrected.

“I think I can approve a sick day,”  Daniel shrugged.  It was easily the least of his worries. 

“Daniel?”  she asked, her tone suddenly cautious. 

“Hmm?”  

“Did… Did I say anything… I mean… I had this, this dream,” Peggy started, trying to wrap her fuzzy memory around what had transpired in either the past ten minutes or the past four weeks.  Time was slippery.  “About Steve.”  she paused.  “About  _you_.” 

Daniel raised an eyebrow. 

 “Sometimes I think - this is, this is going to sound really strange, Daniel,” Peggy suddenly became very interested in the seam of the sheet across her chest.  “Sometimes I really believe that Steve was setting me up all along… for  _you_.” 

Daniel felt his chest tighten.

He squeezed her hand.   Wherever Captain Steve Rogers was now, Daniel Sousa would be indebted to him for his entire life. 

And not just for  _saving_  his life.

“Must have been one hell of a fever, Peg.”  

**Author's Note:**

> This one was crashing around my head for a little while, and was written on an iPhone, a teeny scrap of paper and eventually a Mac. Also, I've hit a total roadblock on my Alphabet Challenge, so here, have this thing instead. 
> 
> Originally posted here: http://agent-aurelie.tumblr.com/post/142927870845/fever-dream-characters-peggy-carter-edwin
> 
> If you like my work, it gets posted to my tumblr first! Follow me at "agent-aurelie"! :) As always, thank you for the support and feedback!


End file.
